Chapter 74

PS: The first few chapters have been revised, with the word "Revised" added to the titles. The revisions will have a certain impact on the subsequent plot development, so please reread them. ◇↓

The revisions include that the script for "My Wild Girlfriend" was not given away for free but involved investment; and the use of the cultural channel to test the popularity of "Ghost Blows Out the Light," among others.

I apologize for any inconvenience caused and hope for your understanding.

...

Du Huoju is the boss of Jin Qiao Media Co., Ltd. in Donghai City. Jin Qiao Media, which he founded, is one of the 4A advertising companies in China, having planned and managed advertisements for multiple brand companies, earning a good reputation in the industry.

After having morning tea with a client, he arrived at the company just before nine and toured the various departments. He noticed that many designers in the design department were gathered around their computers, discussing something.

"What are you all so excited about?" Du Huoju asked as he walked over.

"Good morning, Mr. Du."

"Mr. Du, there's a new post on the Ad People's Home forum."

"It's about the Ice Garden Orchard ad battle with Tianyi."

"The post has over a thousand replies, and the administrator has pinned it to the top of the homepage."

Tianyi's planning?

Du Huoju frowned: "Have you all finished your work? Why are you reading such trivial posts?"

"Mr. Du, it's not trivial. The content is very detailed and professional."

"I think this 'Double Gun' is probably a pseudonym for some big shot in the industry who doesn't like Tianyi."

"Tianyi's CD is a real piece of work; there are many who don't like him."

"That old scoundrel, I don't know where he gets his sense of superiority. Let's see how he acts now..."

Du Huoju didn't continue listening to the staff's discussion. He returned to his office, turned on his computer, and logged into the Ad People's Home forum. He easily found the post the staff were talking about on the homepage— "My Views on the Superiority of Ice Garden Orchard's Summer Ad over Minute Maid."

Interesting.

He took the Blue Mountain coffee from his secretary and clicked on the post, reading it while sipping his coffee.

As the staff had said, the content of the post was very professional and substantial.

The article, centered on the "ROI" principle of William Bernbach, a representative of the advertising literary school, elaborated from the perspectives of relevance, originality, and impact, thoroughly criticizing Tianyi's planning.

Double Gun pointed out that the Ice Garden Orchard ad took a down-to-earth approach, so the Minute Maid ad, planned by Tianyi, only outperformed Ice Garden Orchard in terms of sophistication. However, the sophistication of the Minute Maid ad was not high, and compared to the Dove window ad, it was like five Minute Maid ads were needed to match it.

In terms of relevance, the ad planned by Tianyi focused more on Su Youpeng, trying to leverage his star power to attract consumers while neglecting the close connection between the ad content and the product, which was not as strong as the connection between Ice Garden Orchard's ad content and consumers.

In terms of originality, Tianyi's creative ideas were flashy and seemed to attract consumers, but they were not as clear and simple as Ice Garden Orchard's, and lacked strong extensibility.

As for impact, it's not that the more lively an ad is, the more impactful it is. The Ice Garden Orchard ad, though seemingly plain, had a higher impact on consumers with the scene of the father and son shaking the bottle and the slogan "Shake Ice Garden Orchard before drinking."

The post, over a thousand words long, was filled with professional terms and humorous remarks, making it both serious and entertaining. Even laypeople could enjoy reading it without being deterred by the technical jargon.

After the professional analysis, Double Gun shifted the topic back to sophistication.

He stated that the sophistication of an ad is not as important as whether it helps promote product sales, increase brand awareness, and achieve corporate profits after it is aired.

Ice Garden Orchard...

Du Huoju suddenly remembered a few days ago when he was at a gathering with friends, and his friend's eight-year-old son was shaking a Copella juice drink. His own little princess followed suit, and the two kids were shouting, "Ice Garden Orchard, shake before drinking"...

At the end of the article, Double Gun dropped a bombshell.

The shooting process of the Minute Maid ad was extremely rough, and Liu Tao, who had been beautifully portrayed in Dove ads, was made to look completely different, almost unrecognizable.

Liu Tao's agent argued for a reshoot, but Tianyi arrogantly refused, leading to a heated dispute. Fortunately, Su Youpeng intervened, reviewed the footage, and insisted on a reshoot, which eventually calmed the situation.

Seeing this, Du Huoju wasted no time, capturing the screen and saving the post.

He believed that many advertising companies would do the same.

This was a bombshell.

Whether true or not, it would give Tianyi a hard time.

In the future, whoever competes with Tianyi for ad contracts could use this post to put Tianyi at a disadvantage!

Finally, Double Gun raised a question in the article.

"…Mengren Film is a small company, while Tianyi is a well-known 4A advertising company. Yet, the ad produced by the small company outperformed Tianyi's work. I can't help but ask, what's wrong with 4A advertising companies?"

"Is it that 4A advertising companies are not as good as they are rumored to be, or is it that the 4A Association is not strict enough, allowing Tianyi to slip through?"

Choose one?

Too devious!

But I like it.

No wonder there are so many replies.

Du Huoju chuckled and decisively joined the commenters: "Tianyi does not represent all 4A advertising companies. I hope the 4A Association will be stricter in the future."

Thinking back to the unpleasant experiences he had with Tianyi's CD, Ye Zhirong, Du Huoju felt that just commenting was not enough. He took out his business card holder, found Ye Zhirong's card, and called him on the landline.

"Hello, Mr. Ye, this is Old Du from Jin Qiao in Donghai."

"Have you seen the post on Ad People's Home today?"

"No, I haven't. Why should I see it? It will just make me angry..."

"What? You've seen it? Oh, it's just a trivial post, don't take it too seriously..."

Trivial post?

A solid professional takedown!

After the call, Du Huoju maintained his composure, keeping the receiver to his ear, waiting for Ye Zhirong to hang up first.

He wasn't disappointed; he heard what he wanted to hear—Ye Zhirong cursing.

Serves you right, I'll see how you can still act superior in front of me!

But who is this Double Gun?

"Hello, Old Kong, have you seen the post 'My Views on the Superiority of Ice Garden Orchard's Summer Ad over Minute Maid'?"

"Is Double Gun you?"

"Stop pretending. Last time, Tianyi took the Mushi Women's Wear contract, and Ye Zhirong publicly belittled you. If I hadn't held you back, you might have hit him..."

"What? It's really not you? Then who could it be? Could it be Jia Shi's Xiao Pei, who seemed to be upset by Ye Zhirong in March..."

Because of Ye Zhirong's sense of superiority as a Hong Kong man, he had offended many mainland colleagues, making Double Gun's identity a mystery.

The person who knows you best is often your enemy.

While the advertising industry was still investigating and speculating about Double Gun's identity, Ye Zhirong had already figured it out.

That damned small company!

It must be them!

Knock, knock, knock.

The secretary entered with a document, seeing the mess on the floor but pretending not to notice.

"Mr. Ye, a fax from Minute Maid."

"What does it say?"

"They said they are pausing further cooperation and need to reconvene a meeting..."

Bang!

Ye Zhirong fell off his swivel chair...

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